The days have been mild this week, turning cold at night. The result, ice, great fields of glittering ice. The roads are clear though, for the moment, so I am not complaining.
It has been a busy week as we have been getting ready to submit our income tax returns. It is definitely one of my least favourite things to do, that and day-to-day bookkeeping.
The last few nights have been cloudless and beautiful. The moon shone bright and true through the stark tree trunks late last night. As I stood in my nightgown, shivering, looking out from my lightless window into the luminous cold, it seemed to me that the Hunters in the Snow might appear at any moment, that time had folded over and joined me to the edge of the world.
The full moon brought much tension, and some sad stories. A manager at our other branch was let go this week. The head honcho, who did the firing, visited our office and talked for hours with our manager, who looked like a wet dishrag when the fellow finally left. We are all still working there, as far as we know. And then, a wealthy friend of our manager shot and killed himself this past week, leaving a suicide note behind for the wife, who is now under constant care and a suicide watch. Apparently no one knows why this man would kill himself, increasing the intensity of the shock felt by his wife, friends and the small community where he lived.
Much less upsetting, I’ve been yelled at several times this week by customers who are upset by situations created by my predecessors. One situation was resolved only this morning and had been an issue for the customer since the summer of 2010. I felt a real rush getting the issue resolved; the customer was too angry to appreciate my personal efforts. Still I know how hard I worked for that customer, and that feels pretty good in and of itself. I doubt they will ever do business with us again, I certainly wouldn’t in their shoes.
I’ve not had even a few minutes to think my own thoughts this week.
Minutiae keep me from floating away.
Attila came home tonight with a couple of new mouse traps and they are amazing. Attila tells me that they really did invent a better mouse trap. He demonstrated how it works with great enthusiasm; the enthusiasm only those tormented by mice can experience. The traps are easy to setup and apparently quite effective when they were used at Attila’s workplace. We are taking them down to that the little house in the city to see what we can catch.
We are hoping to travel down to our little city house soon. It looks like there will be a cold snap this weekend, so who knows!
My computer is back to working the way I would like it to, which is wonderful.
Worldly Distractions
Weather
0 °C
Condition: Clear
Pressure: 101.6 kPa
Visibility: 16 km
Temperature: 0.1°C
Dewpoint: -11.5°C
Humidity: 42 %
Wind: SW 8 km/h
Wind Chill: -3
Quote
“When she was a small girl, Amanda hid a ticking clock in an old, rotten tree trunk. It drove woodpeckers crazy. Ignoring tasty bugs all around them, they just about beat their brains out trying to get at the clock. Years later, Amanda used the woodpecker experiment as a model for understanding capitalism, Communism, Christianity, and all other systems that traffic in future rewards rather than in present realities.”
Tom Robbins